Linus Schiöler, PhD, from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and colleagues analyzed data from 5,417 subjects participating in a multicenter longitudinal cohort. Participants completed a questionnaire in 1999–2001 and again in 2010–2012. NIR was characterized as having nasal obstruction, secretion, and/or sneezing in the absence of the common cold.

The researchers found that, over the 10-year study period, 19.1% of participants developed NIR. More NIR was seen in 2010 for participants reporting nocturnal gastroesophageal reflux in both 1999 and 2010 (2.8 vs. 1.2%; P<0.001). The number of reflux episodes/week in 1999 and the risk of having NIR in 2010 demonstrated a significant dose-response relationship (P=0.02). Those with nocturnal GERD in 1999 (at least three episodes of nocturnal gastroesophageal reflux symptoms per week) had an increased odds of developing NIR in 2010 (odds ratio, 1.6; P=0.03), when adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, tobacco smoke and asthma. There was an increased risk of developing NIR (P<0.001) and nocturnal GERD associated with smoking.

"GERD should therefore be considered in patients with rhinitis of known and unknown origin," the authors write.